28 Mar 2024
Wednesday 6 April 2016 - 17:05
Story Code : 208259

Iranian delegation to meet Saudi hajj minister next week

TEHRAN (Tasnim) After months of tension in the ties between Tehran and Riyadh and doubts about Irans participation in this years Hajj pilgrimage, an Iranian delegation is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia later this month at the invitation of Saudi Hajj officials.

Head of Irans Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Saeed Ohadi told the Tasnim News Agency that Saudi officials have invited the Iranian delegation for talks on new agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on the upcoming Hajj (annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca).

Based on the Saudi invitation, we will hold a meeting on April 14 with the (Arab) countrys Hajj Minister (Bandar Al Hajjar) on Hajj pilgrimage, he said.

Expressing the hope that a final decision is made in the meeting, Ohadi said the outcome of the talks will be made public in due time.

The meeting on April 14 will be held after Saudi Arabias 3-month delay in signing of an MoU, he said, giving assurance that the appropriate decision will be made in the meeting, due to be attended by related authorities and experts.

In late March Ohadi had criticized Saudi Hajj authorities for declining to issue visas for members of the Iranian delegation tasked with facilitating affairs related to the upcoming Hajj pilgrimage.

Tehran had been trying to contact Saudi Hajj authorities for arranging a meeting for talks about Iranians possible religious visit to the kingdom for this years Hajj season, irrespective of political disputes, he had said.

Iran insists that the safety of travelers to Saudi Arabia must be ensured, given the disaster in Mina that killed many Iranian pilgrims in the previous Hajj pilgrimage.

More than 460 Iranians were among the thousands of pilgrims who died on September 24, 2015, in a crush in Mina, near Mecca, during the Hajj pilgrimage.

The incident marked the worst ever tragedy during Hajj.

There have been doubts about participation of Iranian pilgrims in the 2016 Hajj since tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia ran high in January following Riyadhs execution of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, and a subsequent attack by outraged Iranian protesters on the Saudi embassy in Tehran, which resulted in the Arab countrys decision to sever its ties with the Islamic Republic.

Although Iranian officials criticized the embassy attack and those involved in the attack have been brought to justice, Saudi Arabia has cut off all diplomatic relations with Iran.

Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey.

By Tasnim News Agency
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